Dental Patient Communication Dos and Don’ts: Engaging With Patients

Every conversation you have with your patients can help build the dentist-patient relationship. Effective communication can be key to fostering trust and encouraging more patients to say yes to treatment.

Establishing a good rapport with patients helps allows you to deliver the most effective care, whether someone is visiting your dental practice for preventive dental care, restorative dentistry, cosmetic dentistry or emergency treatment. Read on to discover dental communication dos and don'ts that can better convey important messages and help you connect with the people who keep your dental practice going.

Do Listen to Your Patient

It’s easy for you and your dental team to fall into delivering information to patients on autopilot. Ultimately, though, you are more likely to encourage someone to say yes to treatment when they recognize that you are listening to them rather than only passing on expertise.¹

Patients need to feel appreciated, acknowledged and important. Effective communication should contain five essential qualities: clarity, correctness, conciseness, completeness and cohesiveness.¹ When you want someone to invest in treatment, convincing them takes more than a few minutes chairside.

Establish officewide rules about dental patient communication:¹

• What your patient has to say matters — and what they do not say matters, too. You will hear both things when you listen.
• Budget time to focus on your patient so you can have a conversation and answer all questions and concerns.²
• Patients may be open to multiple treatments or so fearful that they barely speak. Validate their feelings and give them room to communicate so they can be an active participant in their treatment.
• Ensure your dental team does not rush you or interrupt your conversation.
• Schedule a dedicated consultation time if there is not enough time to discuss the matter.

Do Ask Questions

Ask the right questions to assess an oral health situation, and you may learn details your patients may not otherwise have shared and how you can help them beyond the current concern. It is smart to have scripts to reference in preparation for both in-office and follow-up conversations.³

• Think about the unique person in front of you so you can gather relevant information, whether it’s an initial conversation or a long-time patient.³
• Invite patients to open up and talk about themselves so they feel comfortable.³
• Ask more than yes-or-no questions: “How long have you been grinding your teeth? Have you ever tried wearing a mouthguard, and if so, tell me about it? Have you ever considered orthodontics?”

Do Use Visual Aids

X-rays and cost estimates are essential pieces of visual information to show a patient. Models and printed handouts are also visually persuasive examples of problem teeth or customized smile makeovers.¹

• Visual aids can be powerful for elective dental treatments like Invisalign® and porcelain veneers.
• Before-and-after photos of satisfied patients can convince patients to invest in advanced treatment.
• Digital smile design software lets patients see images of themselves with upgraded teeth.

Do Be Transparent About Costs

Paying for dental care is at the top of many dental patients' minds. According to Synchrony's Dental Lifetime of Care Study, only 30% of respondents say they find understanding dental health expenses easy.⁴ When you introduce the cost conversation first, even if it's uncomfortable for you too, the situation can become easier for your patient. Never shy away from discussing payment options and curating a positive financial experience with your dental patients from the start.

Addressing money matters can allow your patient to be forthcoming about their budget and comfort level. Consider assigning the task to a team member who doesn’t mind having money conversations.

• Transparency about costs shows you are an honest, straightforward professional.
• Your team can help patients determine out-of-pocket expenses so they are aware of the total amount for which they are financially responsible.
• Money is a determining factor in many forms of dental care, even for elective treatments or patients with dental insurance.
• Eighty-three percent of people consider holding off on emergency dental care because of cost.⁴ But clear dental communication that includes multiple options for covering costs can help turn no into yes.
• Design a plan for your dental team to guide patients through flexible payment options.

Do Prioritize Financing Options

One way to help patients feel positive about dental care may be through patient financing solutions that can meet their budget and comfort level. While your preference is to have the patient say yes to treatment, their preference may be to have the treatment when it makes sense to them from a cost perspective.

• Explain why investing in dental work is important and discuss how dental patient financing can help them fit the cost into their monthly budget.
• Be prepared to provide clear and comprehensive information to help your patient understand the value of financing.
• Deliver on what patients might want most: honesty, flexibility and affordability.

The CareCredit study found that 58% of respondents say they would probably or definitely choose a payment option that provided predictable, set, equal payments without having to use a general-purpose credit card.⁴

Do Use Patients' Preferred Communication Method

Building a strong dentist-patient relationship extends beyond in-office conversations. It also involves digital methods of communication.¹

• Ask patients how they prefer to be contacted and offer automated appointment reminders through SMS and email.
• Provide various ways for patients to get in touch with your office, like online scheduling and an after-hours number.
• Create a portal where patients can access proposed treatment plans, financial options and dental history to review at their convenience.

The Positives of Dental Don'ts

While there are plenty of "dos" to consider and implement in your dental practice, there are also essential "don'ts" to honor as well. Paying attention to your behavior and the habits of your dental team can help keep the focus of the dentist-patient relationship on where good can be done.

Don’t Overlook Dental Anxiety

Patients with dental anxiety may avoid dental care for years or arrive at your office with great reservations and no intention of doing more for their oral health than the bare minimum. Simple, effective patient communication shows empathy for dental anxiety and neurodiversity and helps alleviate fear.¹

• Speak calmly, go slowly and explain what you’re doing as you work.
• Ask your patient if they prefer a play-by-play of the dental work or an option to wear headphones and zone out.
• Implement comfort measures like music, television, blankets, earplugs and sedation dentistry.

Don’t Rush Through Conversations With Patients

Take the time to sit and talk with your patients, making eye contact and genuinely engaging with them. During one-on-one conversations, you can discover what motivates, scares or inspires the person in front of you. This kind of valuable information helps when the time comes to offer reassurance, encourage a yes to treatment or motivate a patient to invest in their dental health future with advanced procedures.

• Insufficient communication can result in the patient's failure to comprehend diagnosis and treatment options.¹
• Be aware of eye contact, posture, hand gestures and facial expressions so you stay positive and engaged.¹
• Make it clear that your patient has all your attention in the moment.¹

Dentists with the fewest complaints spend more time with patients at dental visits and get to know them well through active listening, a friendly environment and a warm personality.²

Don’t Come Off as Judgmental

As an experienced dentist, you may feel as if you've seen everything — healthy teeth, deteriorating teeth, gum infections, bad dental work, weak teeth and more. Listen to the words you use as you engage with a patient to reassure them about their dental issues and that your only concern is to aid them in achieving good oral health.¹

• When someone has made it to your dental chair after years of no care, offer support, empathy and validation.
• Remember that patients may not have been able to afford dental care or have so much anxiety about going to the dentist that they prefer to avoid it entirely.
• Get to know your patients and meet them right where they are.

Don’t Pressure a Patient Into Treatment

There is a big difference between recommending a treatment chairside and pressuring a patient into a treatment they don’t want. The only reason to push a patient, of course, is if they have an infection or dental emergency that could impact their well-being.

• Sometimes, it's better to wait for a patient to get used to the idea of what dentistry can do for them.
• There is nuance to dental communication skills, and patience and gentleness are major variables in the equation.

Don’t Rely on Dental Jargon

Use simple dental terms and explanations that patients understand.¹ Clinical terminology may be in your wheelhouse, but it isn’t for the person in the dentist’s chair. Instead of caries, it’s cavities. Don’t refer to teeth by number.³ Educate patients as they show interest, but when you just need to cover the bare minimum, keep communication simple.

Every interaction you have with a current or potential patient at your dental practice is one more opportunity to market your dental office positively. How you treat these individuals, communicate with them and make them feel creates the patient experience they'll take with them. The patient encounters you create with each individual will be shared with others, for better or worse.

A Dental Patient Financing Solution for Your Practice

Want to help more patients move forward with the dental care they want or need? Consider offering CareCredit as a financing solution. CareCredit allows patients to pay for out-of-pocket dental care costs over time while helping enhance the payments process for your practice.

When you accept CareCredit, patients can see if they prequalify with no impact to their credit score, and those who apply, if approved, can take advantage of special financing on qualifying purchases.* Additionally, you will be paid directly within two business days.

Learn more about the CareCredit credit card as a dental patient financing solution or start the provider enrollment process by filling out this form.

Author Bio

Elizabeth Weiss is a freelance writer and editor with more than 20 years of experience in content development for dentistry, orthodontics and cosmetic dermatology. She focuses on making healthcare topics accessible to readers and contributes to many fields, from family and estate law to industrial services and landscape design.

Healthcare payment and financing solution

The CareCredit health and wellness credit card helps improve the payment experience for patients and clients, and your financial performance.

Get Started